


Attack on the Prydwen

by championofnone



Series: Hard Choices & Lifelong Consequences [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Gen, railroad path spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-09 22:19:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5557649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/championofnone/pseuds/championofnone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Brotherhood of Steel attacks Railroad HQ. Led by the survivor of Vault 111, the Railroad retaliates, but it isn't hard when the last heavy remaining is also a Paladin with friends on the Prydwen. </p><p>She doesn't think she can forgive herself for this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Attack on the Prydwen

Logically, she knew it was something they had to do. Maxson had ordered the attack on HQ, and she’d barely gotten there in time to help, and even then, it wasn’t enough.

She’d held Glory’s hands as she died, fire in her eyes even as blood dripped down her chin, her last words ringing in Erin’s head. “ _Not one of them got past me. Make them_ pay _, Charmer_.” She sent MacCready to run to Sanctuary in case the Brotherhood retaliated, meeting up with Deacon at the front of Old North Church.

Still, Erin wasn’t liking the idea of taking on the Prydwen from the inside - these were people she’d worked with, befriended, some of the first people to help her find her footing in the Commonwealth.

And now she had to be their executioner. 

The Cambridge police department was busier than usual, and that did nothing but fill her with dread. If Deacon noticed her shaking, he didn’t say anything, and she was grateful for it. The last knight to go down was Rhys, and she couldn’t keep herself calm as she got sick. Deacon awkwardly patted her shoulder, a sympathetic look on his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said, voice quiet so Tinker Tom wouldn’t hear them. “You knew him?”

Erin nodded. “He was one of the first ones I met here. Surly and a bit rude, but…I respected him.”

He nodded. “I know. Need a hand?”

She shook her head as she stood, quietly taking Rhys’s holotag with her. She swore she’d give him a proper burial when this was over. She’d do it for all of them. She owed them that much. 

The inside was no easier, although she was terrified she’d find Haylen around every corner. She poked around the lower staircase after they’d cleared the first two floors when the scribe called out to her.

“Why are you here?” her eyes were cold, dried tear tracks interrupting the dirt on her cheeks. Erin was reminded again of just how young Haylen probably was, and her chest ached. “You want to kill us all? After everything? After Danse?”

Erin hesitated a second before lowering her gun. Deacon followed suit as Tinker Tom looked between them all. Haylen tightened her grip on her pistol, but did the same. “I didn’t want this, Haylen. The Brotherhood attacked the Railroad, and we have to retaliate for our own safety.”

“So the rumors are true?” she asked. “I argued with so many people, I told them you would never betray us like that, but then…Danse…”

“I never would have killed him, Haylen. He’ll never forgive me for what I’m doing now, but he’s alive,” she hated herself more with every word she spoke, but she had to convince Haylen. “That’s enough for me.” 

“And what about me?” Haylen snapped. “Going to put a bullet in my head just like you did to Rhys?”

Erin shook her head. “Not if I can help it.” She stepped towards Haylen, stopping as the scribe flinched. “Haylen, please. Trust me one last time.” They stared each other down for a long moment before Haylen nodded. Erin reached out and dropped small, tied bag into Haylen’s hand.

“What is all this?”

“A map, Rhys’s holotags, and a holotape,” Erin explained. “The map is marked with safehouses across the Commonwealth - all Minutemen, not Railroad - and Danse’s current location. Get to him, Haylen, and run. Get out of the Commonwealth. Go to the Capital Wasteland, go to New York, anywhere but here. The holotape is for Danse.” She swallowed, throat tight. “He’ll never forgive me. I just hope he’ll be willing to hear what’s on that at least once.”

Haylen was quiet, staring at the bag as if it was a death sentence. “I’ll make sure he listens to it. Pala - Erin. It was -” she squeezed her eyes shut, unable to say what she meant to  “- survive this world, okay?” 

“Ad victoriam, Haylen. Live well.”

Deacon didn’t say anything as they climbed into the Vertibird, only yelling at Tom as the vehicle shuddered and dipped under his inexperience. Erin stayed quiet, hoping Danse would give the holotape a chance. She’d confessed everything: all the Institute runs, her meetings with Shaun, him naming her Director, her involvement with the Railroad and how she was the one who ultimately ran the Battle of Bunker Hill. That she hated herself because innocents would be caught her in the crosshairs no matter what she did, no matter who she worked with, and she had to minimize the losses. That she understood he would never forgive her for what she was about to do, and that she understood.

She clicked the Stealthboy Desdemona had given her on as soon as Tom docked, Deacon doing the same. They barely slipped inside in time, sliding down to the main deck as quietly as possible. 

Honestly, she should’ve expected the punch she got as soon as her feet touched the ground. Captain Kells stood in front of her, face twisted in fury. “We granted you everything!” he screamed as she ducked his next throw, drawing her pistol, “Everything!”

“I’m sorry,” she said, voice breaking as she lined up her shot and pulled the trigger. She didn’t stop and let herself look at the aftermath, suddenly hating the hollow-point bullets MacCready had given her. She swallowed her desire to be sick as she moved towards the mess hall.

Erin went numb facing Brandis and Ingram, the looks of betrayal on their faces something she knew she was never going to forget, no matter how badly she wanted to. 

No, she needed to remember this, needed to remember how far she was willing to go for what she believed in, even if she’d hate herself for the rest of her life because of it. 

They worked their way through the ship, planting the charges before hurriedly getting back to the upper deck, only for Erin to be caught in the shoulder with a shot from a laser rifle. Crying out, she spun and threw herself behind a wall, hand tight on her pistol. 

“Traitor!” Elder Maxson bellowed, rage coloring his voice. “I should have known when you sheltered Danse! **I should have known**!”

“It doesn’t have to end like this, Maxson,” she pleaded, ignoring the smell of burnt flesh from her shoulder. “If you walk away, leave the Commonwealth, this can be avoided!”

“YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!” A Paladin in power armor charged at Deacon, leaving Maxson entirely to Erin. She grit her teeth and quickly switched to the .44 she’d swiped from Kellogg what felt like decades ago. Time seemed to slow down as she aimed, squeezed the trigger twice, and watched two parallel spots bloomed crimson on Maxson’s forehead. He dropped and she swept her aim to the Paladin, firing at the fusion core until it started smoking. 

They fled the ship, Deacon yelling at Tom to get them airborne before the vertibirds from Boston Airport joined them. They shot off, only dipping a few times, but Erin’s ability with a minigun kept them safe. 45 seconds later, the sky filled with heat and dust as the Prydwen blew, flames scorching her hull as fire claimed her and made her a grave. 

Erin finally allowed herself to cry. 

**Author's Note:**

> This quest was really, really harsh on my Sole Survivor, and I didn't feel like the game did it enough justice.


End file.
